Disc Golf

Criteria for Disc Golf World Rankings
Updated January 2024

There has been further development to the criteria for determining World Rankings for Disc Golf. It has been felt by both WFDF Disc Golf Committee that there should be wider inclusion of WFDF members in the Rankings so a criteria of ‘Developing Countries’ has been introduced. Please see the section below for an explanation of how this works.

PDGA Ratings

Points are awarded based on the average PDGA Ratings of the top Professional or Amateur (see note 1) individual players in every country that is a member of WFDF, a PDGA Affiliated country or an individual member from a country recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).


The average Ratings of the Female and Male players are ranked separately. Ratings for this update are those that applied on December 31st 2023. The top Ranked Male and Female teams shall then receive 100 points. Second place shall receive 97 points, then 94, 92, 90. Places from 3rd-30th place shall be separated by 2 points. Places 31st-100th (or last) shall be separated by 1 point. Countries with no rated players shall receive 0 points.


The Sum of Ranking Points for both Male and Female teams shall be calculated and a PDGA World Ranking created. The top Ranked team shall then receive 100 points. Second place shall receive 97 points, then 94, 92, 90. Places from 3rd-30th place shall be separated by 2 points. Places 31st-100th (or last) shall be separated by 1 point.


Players whose Ratings count shall be, for Males: Top 3 x MPO, 1 x MP40 , 1 X Junior and for Females: Top 3 x FPO. All players used for the calculation of WFDF World Rankings shall be active members of PDGA who have completed at least 2 events and 4 rounds of a PDGA Sanctioned tournament, in any division, that is recorded in their profile in the calendar year in which the calculations count. All data is collated from PDGA Player Statistics.

Developing countries

Those countries that do not have the required number of players to meet the criteria shall receive a calculation based on their players having played at least 1 (one) PDGA event in the year of the calculations in the divisions for which they have players registered as members with PDGA. A country without the required number of players or whose players have not played 2 PDGA events in the year cannot place above those countries that meet the criteria.

Publication of World Rankins

World Rankings for 2024 will be published on January 31st and December 31st. Thereafter World Rankings will be recalculated each year and published by November 30th. In years where there are World Team Disc Golf Championships there will be interim Rankings published on the results of that tournament.


NB: A Junior shall be any player aged 18 or under in the year that Ratings are used to calculate Ranking Points and who have played 2 events or more in the calendar year in which Rankings are calculated. A junior who chooses to play in the Open Division shall still count as a Junior - however where it is not known if this is the case according to PDGA Ratings history, the highest ranked Junior who has played 2 or more events shall be used in the calculations. A period of one month after the World Rankings are published shall be given to all countries to appeal the Junior Ratings with evidence that their player is a Junior by age who has not played 2 Junior events but has played more than 2 Open events.


Note 1; Where a country has less than the number of players required to score points (3 x MPO, 1 x MP40 , 1 X Junior or 3 x FPO) then the highest Amateur players rating shall be used. This shall be the case even if an Amateur player is ranked higher than a Pro player from their country. If a country has no players - either Pro or Am - in any division that slot shall receive 0 (zero) points. Players can only be counted once in any one division - this especially applies to either MP40 or Juniors who may also qualify as MPO players. If this is the case then the highest possible calculation of a combination of all Divisions will be used.


It is recognised that there is a current gender inequality in the numbers of players used to calculate these Ratings. However, at this time it is impossible to accurately calculate the following Divisions for Ratings: FP40- many, if not most, FP40 eligible players choose to play in FPO so an accurate inclusion in the Rankings of FP40 is not possible. Junior Women - There are not enough PDGA registered players world wide to warrant inclusion in the Rankings at this time. We compensate for this inequality of number of players by attributing the same value of points to both Female and Male Ratings.


There is also potential confusion over the nationality of some players when calculating Ratings as many players living in, say USA, may be from Canada, GBR or any other country in the world. WFDF have tried as best as possible to make sure that all Ratings used for each country apply to nationals from those countries or players who meet the WFDF Nationality regulations making them eligible to play for the country they are living in. However, in order to be consistent we use the countries that players register with the PDGA as their home country as a first option. Should National Associations wish to challenge the attributed country on the PDGA Men and Women’s data calculations then they should contact the WFDF Disc Golf Committee Chair to discuss the matter. However, it is also up to individuals to reregister their country of birth with PDGA should they wish to, even if they are currently resident elsewhere.

WFDF World Team Disc Golf Championships

Points shall be awarded to every country that attends WTDGC - 5 points to every team.


Points shall be awarded for finishing places at WTDGC - Each place shall be awarded 3 x the number of teams who attend the event. For example in 2019 there were 17 teams. So first place was awarded 17 x 3, second place 16 x 3 etc.


Only points from the 3 previous WTDGC events and the last issue of Continental or Regional events in between, shall count towards World Rankings and shall be recalculated after each WTDGC.


The Top Ranked team shall then receive 66 points. Second place shall receive 63 points, then 60, Places from 4th-16th place shall be separated by 2 points. Places 17th-50th (or last) shall be separated by 1 point.

Continental and Regional Team Disc Golf Championships

Continental Team Disc Golf Championships will attract 3 points for each team attending the event and 2 x the number of teams attending for the places they finish. For example if there were 6 teams first place would be awarded 6 points x 2, second place 5 x 2 etc.

Regional Team Disc Golf Championships or Team matches between 2 countries will attract 1 point for each team attending the event and 1 x the number of teams attending for the places they finish. For example if there were 3 teams first place would be awarded 3 x1 points, second place 2 x 1 etc.

WFDF World Ranking

The totals of points gained from PDGA Ratings and WTDGC events are added together to give an overall points total. World Rankings are then determined with the highest score receiving the highest Ranking.

Notes on World Ranking Revision

Since December 2022 the World Rankings have been revised once each year and published by December 31st of that year or immediately after any Continental or WTDGC events that take place in December or January. PDGA Ratings from the December update will be used in those calculations as appropriate.


In years when WTDGC events are held there will be an interim update which will be published as soon as possible after the event.


A revision of any or all criteria for generating a World Disc Golf Ranking for Countries will also be reviewed annually based on feedback from WFDF members and PDGA.


WFDF Disc Golf Committee recognise that, in creating a World Ranking for Nations, there may well be factors that need to be included in future criteria. We would ask you all to be patient in working with us on developing a system that is still in progress.


Future discussions will focus on the use of further data for Amateur players with a World Ranking system specifically for Amateurs.


We would also ask WFDF Members to review the specific criteria above and suggest any alterations, amendments or additions. We are particularly interested in views on equitable use of gender based divisions and whether the criteria also meet WFDF principles of inclusion by rewarding participation at both team and individual player level.


WFDF Disc Golf Committee